Sunday, July 28, 2013

Report: Cumulus May Drop Limbaugh, Hannity at Year's End

Cumulus Media may beat Rush Limbaugh to the punch. A source tells Politico the broadcaster is planning not to renew its contracts with Limbaugh and conservative host Sean Hannity following negotiation breakdowns with Clear Channel’s Premiere Networks, which distributes both shows. In May Limbaugh reportedly mulled leaving Cumulus after receiving blame for advertiser decline in the wake of his controversial Sandra Fluke comments. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey told Bloomberg TV at the time that “we have the premier talk distribution platform in the business and if you want to be on a big stage in this game, you need to be on our stations in the largest markets. They’re the biggest signals, the heritage brands and everybody knows that.”*Follow me on Twitter

Just read the story on line. A bit ironic, we hate Cumulus for getting rid of our favorite Bay Area hosts, Gene (RIP) John Rothman, others like Gil, who these days is as bad as they come. Instead they gave us Montemayor and Langdon. However, if they drop Sean and Rush because of loss of advertising dollars, perhaps Cumulus have a certain standard, the almighty dollar, and if it cut across left and right I might have a little (I said a little respect for them). Rush and Sean are so arrogant and high on the horse, Rush makes 40 millions or something like that a year, and he has the nerve to get on the air and rail against anyone who wants to raise the minimum wages from $8.00 to $9.00, so if he were to loose some stations or revenues, I would not be too displeased. I don't care how much he or anyone makes, but please don't be greedy, and rail against unions and whatever measure that might help the poor and middle class.

I'd hire high school kids in the summer if I could get them for $6. But since I HAVE to pay $8, I'll hire the illegal alien who is 25 and supporting a family. He will always show up and always work hard. Why would I pay the same for a kid? Minimum wage hurts american kids.

Yes there is. A powerful and great one at that. That is why I feel he will fix this for Hannity. Lord knows we don't need continuous brainwashing by the liberals with their Democratic zombies. Too many of them are in a trance and need to wake up and see what the Democratic party is doing to the U.S.

I love listening to Hannity but can definitely do without Huckabee, Limbaugh, Levin, and someone I was totally fond of having lived in San Francisco for 35 yrs, Michael Savage. I will not listen to Savage anymore as he has jumped the shark. He's brutal to callers which is sooooo painful, he was horribly wrong on his Trayvon Martin opinion, and basically, he's an egotistical narcissist. Replace him! We also need someone to help Brian Sussman in the mornings to bring back the seriousness of the morning show (decrease Katie's input). Lastly, lastly...I am so enjoying John Phillips down in LA on KABC who filled in for Batchrlor. He is conservative, informed , and terribly witty ...such a delight!!! Let him do a three hour national show. Here's begging... About all I listen to on KSFO now is Hannity and then Barbsra Simpson on the weekends (iI adore her and agree with her wholeheartedly; she says it like it is!!!). Please convey my thoughts= =to anyone who has any say. I also like Greg Gory and am happy when he fills in.

I agree with you on Hannity and Simpson. I do enjoy Levin and Savage from time to time as well. It's too bad what the Bay Area has become with the years of Democratic leadership. You take 1 industry away...tech....and the Bay Area would be in the same boat as Detroit, another town with years of Democratic leadership. The Bay Area just hit the lottery with tech and the climate.

The Bay Area and Detroit are not the same. Detroit was an ugly city even in its heyday. Nobody outside Detroit would gleefully talk about vacationing there and expect envious looks. So it is not surprising that when the economy tanked, people fled en masse. If the Bay Area economy suffers like Detroit, yeah some people might flee, but many won't. And then, of course, you have the tourists.

This is like punching another hole in a leaking boat to help the water get out faster. Not weeping for anyone here - but don't Limbaugh talk stations routinely outperform non-Limbaugh talk stations outside of his slot? And now Cumulus is going to be going against him? I'm sure the bankers will be eager to see Mr. Dickey's math on this.

I can see dropping Hannity,because of poor ratings and lack of talent. Rush, however, is a different story. It may be that his contractual demands are extreme, but he still has lots of listeners and lots of talent.

I am not a fan Hannity, mostly because of his bland style and his persistent coziness with the Republican establishment. However, I would not say he has a lack of talent. Just look at how he handled his interview with Howard Stern years ago. Howard was heavily promoting his move to satellite, so he agreed to a three hour interview with Hannity. He tried and tried to take over Hannity's show, but Hannity made it clear he was in control. Now that is talent.

Problem is, he has no advertisers. Thanks to a grass roots movement to make his advertisers aware of the hate speech they have been sponsoring, 2600 advertisers have stopped associating their good names with his misogyny and bigotry. It's just a matter of pointing out what kind of programming is good for business and what enrages decent customers.

Did you think I had my own show? I don't, so I don't get ratings. I'm neither responsible for the great successes nor the great failures. It's actually a good place to be, considering the realities these days. When I did have my own show at KFBK,replacing Bernie Ward, I insisted on contractual bonuses for ratings increases. They were always so annoyed when I met and surpassed every, single goal. I absolutely believe that if I had a regular show right now, I could beat the pants off of what is currently in a couple of those spots right now.(I won't say where, exactly) I do very well at the law firm, meeting every goal and expectation and Christmas bonuses. Does that answer your question? You can catch me most fridays as I fill for my friend, Karel on www.thekarelshow.com. enjoy!

Hannity has no ratings anywhere. He's a clearinghouse for commercial spots at this point. He uses the radio show to promote the TV show. It's a complete bore. When you see radio ads for hosts on radio websites you know they're doing poorly, like Hannity, Norman Goldman (the worst), and that awful Laura Ingraham.

Christine, I'm an old KGO listeners, still listen to Ronn, Pat, Brian and you, otherwise not much. Loved Gene (RIP) and John Rothman, use to like Gil, but these days his show stinks, it is boring. I have listened to Rush at times, but never a full hour. I just don't get him, he is so over the top, and so insulting if you don't agree with him, his statements like "liberals don't know how to have fun" similar, makes me turn the dial. I use to listen to Tom Sullivan and other reasonable conservatives, but Rush is so predictable that you really only have to listen to a few minutes of his show, and he only take callers that agrees with him. Gene is still number one in my book. Anyway hope to hear you on KGO soon.

I haven't filled in at KGO in ages, and I haven't listened to Rush since my dad died. I knew him at KFBK here in Sacramento and gave him his first job doing commentary at KRBK where I was anchor and managing editor. He was very funny and gentlemanly in person. He wasn't nearly as good on tv as he was on radio. I visited him at EIB in New York and had a blast. What I liked most about his shows in the past were his little soundbits that were produced by his crew and which took pot shots at politicians that were searingly on point. They were very original. Lots of folks copied them with out much genius. I do think he's still very popular, despite the stupidity of the Sandra Fluke thing. I guess he figured a mere woman would never fight back so effectively..Good for her!

Christine what happened to you with KGO? I've heard Greg Gory on KGO and he doesn't seem that special. There was another guy on recently that I never heard before who wasn't that interesting at all. Last night Mr. Weintrub was on for Maureen but he didn't say if he was filling in for her or taking her place. Did you have a falling out there? I know you do Karel's show but not on KGO all the time. Maybe you have been on and I missed it.

Arbitron hourly ratings are proprietary to the subscribers who pay through the nose for them. You can see station over-alls on allaccess.com..some folks will reveal their hourly ratings..others won't.Good luck!

They're loyal, but they're getting old, dying, getting senile (though this may be a plus for them), forgetting where they put the radio, starting to hear voices, think there are microchips implanted in their heads, etc. Let's hope they replace Rush with something useful, like static.

I thought radio was all about marketing to the 25-54 demographic. At least that's what the excuse always is when our favorite shows/hosts are replaced with something bland, boring, or predictable (Frosty and Gil doing all the talking on 910, for example rather than taking callers). So what is the industry rationale for keeping Rush on? Is his demographic the 25-54 year olds? It would seem not. I never really have believed that the programming changes are only about marketing to the younger folks. Someone out there is making decisions about what they THINK we want to listen to. Even though numbers don't improve with programming changes, we keep getting the same thing now all over the dial. KGO talk replaced by news, 910 talk having no callers, NPR replacing talk of the nation with the news magazine format (which is what 910 now has for 7 hours straight noon - 7). Do the executives want change for the sake of change? I'm not buying that audiences want this stuff rather than at least a little bit of actual talk radio -- callers. PPM's be damned.

The fact that a fat, overrated, bloviating, bigoted, right wing extremist such as Limbaugh, and a smirky, self-righteous prick like Hannity are making millions of dollars while other qualified broadcasters with more credibility and experience can't even get regular jobs on the air shows you the sad state of broadcasting today. I'm no big fan of Cumulus, and they're doing this only because of money (the Dickey Bros are very conservative politically, and it probably pains them to tell Hannity and Limbaugh to take a hike), but this is one time when I'll applaud them, and heartily! Good riddance to both of their tired acts!

Cumulus isn't "dropping" either show, although it has worked very hard to create that impression. The fact is that both shows are distributed by Premiere Networks, a division of Clear Channel, and CC is not renewing the contracts those shows have with stations that compete against CC's own. That's why Limbaugh and Coast To Coast have moved from KSFO to 910/960, and it's why Hannity will soon do the same.

I get tired of Rush, but when a big issue comes up I have to admit he is usually correct in predicting what will happen. He's really intelligent. He has his weaknesses too. Hannity? he reminds me of a guy running around with placards yelling it's the end of the world. He is so monotonous and he dictates. Rush is creative. But he does get out of hand sometime. Sandra Fluke--he made a great point but...do the math Rush, geez. And that magic negro stuff???WTF???Christine--I appreciate your comments here--very nice to hear.